BLOOD & STONE
by SirenLuna
Summary: My far too long awaited sequel to Black Roses. Rose and Dimitri have won and are now the Strigoi King and Queen. But with Queen Lissa working tirelessly to stop them and the mysteries regarding their unborn child piling up, are they in over their heads? Or are they the strongest beings on earth? Its good to be bad...


_Crawls out from under the rock_, hey readers! _Nervous laughter_, Please don't kill me. I'm so very sorry it took me over 2 years to finally sit down and write this. My life was truly a MESS. Divorce, custody battles, finances, family deaths. You name it, it probably happened. Anyway, thank you so much for returning or welcome if this is your first taste of my darkness. This story has been my baby for years and I'm never going to abandon it! I swear on all I hold dear!

**Dimitri**

BLOOD, It connects us, binds us and for a select few… feeds us. The mission was clear from the day I arrived in my dearly departed boss, Galina's, service. It was never to serve again. Galina, the former sex trafficker, former member of the Strigoi bosses who ruled the Russian underground with iron fists. Galina is now ashes drifting in the breeze, that is if her ashes are still part of the physical world; brought to her end by my hand. Mine, and of course, my wife's hands. It was a killing that bound us in blood before I ever took her vein. Together we ended her. My fierce warrior of a woman, my Roza. She had not yet submitted to my sweet attempts for her to accept The Awakening freely. However, the second we ended that greedy whore, I knew with no shadow of a doubt that my Roza needed to be awakened. Perhaps even more than I needed her to be awakened. She needed the freedom I offered. Needed the endless possibility life offered as a Strigoi. So, I took matters into my own hands and drained the Dhampir blood from her then broken body and replaced it with my own.

Slamming Rose into the ground with an impact relatable to a Japanese bullet train, was regrettable. I cursed both myself and her stubbornness for things getting that far. But the woman would have killed me otherwise, and who would have taken care of her then? Her prissy best friend? Her absentee mother? Mafia father who never even acknowledged her as his daughter till after he thought she was dead? A rich, drunken Moroi child who wanted only her body and who undoubtedly would have left her soon as he got his way, possibly carrying his child? She would have been alone or worse, alone with another Dhampir child who's Moroi father would barely acknowledge it. I had no choice but to save her from that fate. My options were to share my gift or kill her; and after all, sharing is caring. Isn't it?

Now here we were, over a year since my wife's awakening and 8 months post our epic battle for Castle Bram. The battle that solidified our status as the Strigoi King and Queen. The bond we shared in our marriage strengthened and the prophecy of our rise to power was almost fulfilled. We had torn our way through the carnage of Dhampir guardians and prestigious Moroi figures. But the power we shared began to burn at us, brutally. The pain for not having my wife at my physical side that very moment felt as though it would singe me from the inside out. The only thing worse than the pain I felt was feeling that same pain devouring Rose. We needed to be in each other's presence. Deeper than that, we needed to be one. In the weeks leading to the battle, Rose and I began to notice the bond between us growing stronger. We didn't just need to feed from one another, we needed to _be with_ one another. It was in that moment, at the height of the battle, we realized we here in heat. The final omen of the prophecy, our unborn child, it was time to give him life. Guided by the burning instinct to mate my bride or other worldly forces I am still not sure, but we navigated out way through the castle, killing everything in our path till I reached the private suite of Vlad Dracula and was spellbound by his portrait. _"Stay…"_ a voice whispered in my mind. _"I am he… who is to come…"_

The echo of that memory remained clouded for me now. Try as I might, I could no longer remember the tone of the voice I'd heard. All I could recall was a whisper. But that was care for another time. For 8 months we ruled over an Anarchic Eutopia of Strigoi. The laws were simple: All who were Awakened had to meet approval before entering the kingdom. They'd be brought before our small council where they would be evaluated and given a position that suited their skills. If they were too willful or posed a risk to our organization, they were dismissed back into the world to brutalize it another day. Yet another nomad amongst the ever-growing fray. All Un-Awakened were likewise evaluated and chosen to stay and be Awakened or to stay… for dinner.

All in all, things were going quite smoothly. Until today that is. Today I stared down at one of my very own generals who thought to rise against me. Maxim was a good and loyal soldier. Which is precisely why he was sure, I had no clue of what he was up to. After the battle had been won, Maxim was always at my side. He wanted to know everything, learn everything. He killed lesser soldiers for not bowing low enough to me, made sure Rose and I were always shown the upmost respect by newcomers and desperately tried to court my sister Viktoria. What he did not realize was, I was only allowing him this close because I could smell the odious aroma of the deceit beneath all his honorable deeds. It was kind of fun basking in his adoration, knowing the entire time he was emphatically full of shit. Today he stood on his knees in the small council meeting room. The very room where my Roza and I lost ourselves to the prophecy. The best joke of all was Maxim's claim that Rose and I were charlatans. I heard his whispers in dark corners to any who would listen.

"You really think the Queen is pregnant? Come on man. We are Strigoi, we don't have babies." , "I know its all fake, they have an alchemist in their possession, that's how they do what they do. It's all just trickery to make us fear and worship them." "They cant truly walk in the sun, have you ever seen it? No because you cannot either. Because it's a lie." These ravings were comical. I allowed Maxim to keep his deceptions, wanting to know just how many would follow him. The outcome was far less to my liking. A fair 20% of my kingdom was starting to question the validity of our power. Rose becoming somewhat of a recluse over the last 8 months wasn't much of a help. First it was fear of losing the child she carried. Then it was those godforsaken baby books that made her paranoid about stress affecting the child's growth. Most recently, it was nesting. The suite of rooms we chose had to be perfect. He was a prince after all. But nothing was perfect enough for the Queen's son. So I let her be and took to ruling our growing kingdom while my Roza focused on her growing belly. Shed begun needing to take naps now, and craved some regular food like steak, bacon and chocolate. Chocolate was the biggest craving of all. A far cry from your average Strigoi.

While it might sound like we drifted apart, we were closer than ever. I lived through her eyes and she through mine. Felt the pride when she finished a section of our son's rooms, remembered the familiar sting of tears when her emotions got the better of her. It was magical. Rose likewise knew all the goings on of our empire, including todays topic of discussion.

"What disappoints me most Maxim, is you never once thought I was on to you." I strode from the fireplace to Maxim and side kicked him in the face. My spiked steal-toe boots breaking his nose, cheakbones and a few teeth. He'd heal in a few minutes. "The only thing I'm curious about is, are you still so sure your Queen and I are fakes?"

Maxim spit as his face finished healing, "Of course you're a fake. I've been a Strigoi longer than you've been on earth. I worked for Ivan before you and your whore killed him. I was there the night you and that bitch took off his head and I know what you did during the battle…"

"Oh? What did I do during the battle? Aside from leading us to victory and into this kingdom."

"Please Belikov, you and your whore stopped fighting to grab a quick fuck. I saw you in this room. While your people were dying you were fucking your woman."

CRACK! Now, I was pissed off. Something Maxim had to have realized somewhere between my murderous gaze and his facial impact with my knee. I was about to pick him up and do it again when the door opened. Much like that night when we conceived our son, my Roza entered the council room through the same door. Her aura immediately calming my rage. I completely abandoned Maxim on the floor and went to her side and pulled her to my lips. With one hand in her hair and the other on her hip, I took in her sweet lips which tasted of blood, she'd just fed. "Roza, my Roza, how are you my love?"

"Better than he is," Rose said looking down at Maxim.

"He is no longer an issue." I stroked her neck and kissed her again.

"Easy cowbow, I know audiences aren't your thing…" she looked back at Maxim then to be again. "Mind if I have some fun too?"

"By all means my love." I stepped aside, only now realizing my tall broad frame had concealed Rose from full view. The look on Maxim's face as he took in Rose's appearance. But it was not her flawless face he stared at, nor was it her long legs or tastefully risqué exposed cleavage. No, it was her full perfect belly which had his attention.

"Aww, Maxi-pad, did you think I was missing from most of you because I was trying to fake my pregnancy? Have you never heard how nuts we girls get over baby things? I mean, I really tried to stick with neutral tones, but green is so… green and yellow is just terrible, I mean does anyone even like yellow? Sigh, It is a nightmarish process."

"That false gut means nothing. You can order them off the internet."

"Can you? Ew, who would want a fake baby belly? Well, now that I'm thoroughly grossed out I want the room cleared." The rest of our council exited as quietly as possible so as not to attract the eye of their monarchs, least they be next. Only we two and Maxim remained. Rose continued, "Tell me Maxim, have you seen a real pregnant belly before? As in one that wasn't ordered off the web?"

Maxim said nothing so Rose continued for him. "Of course you have. By any chance, do they look like this?" Rose reached for the hem of her black dress and slowly pulled it over her head, she was completely naked underneath apart from her knee-high combat boots. The rage that had quieted in my moments ago boiled up again at another man seeing my wife nude. It was the same rage that brought me to mindset of beating this filth to death with my bare hands when he revealed he's spied on us making love in the midst of the battle. He'd seen her body that night as naked as she was now, only now, he also saw the results of that night. I wanted to destroy him, obliterate him from the planet. It was a need, something as a man, a husband, a lover, a King and a father I needed to do. My blood was on fire as his eyes took her elegant figure. The belly took nothing away from my Roza's beauty, it enhanced it. Her hair was even fuller and shined like satin. Her breasts had grown fuller, soon they would feed our son. The glow of pregnancy radiated from her skin. She was just as enticing carrying my son as she was with her toned fit pre-gestation body.

"That's it Maxi-pad, take it all in."

"How is this possible?" Maxim asked stunned.

"Werent you paying attention on all those stolen moments when you yacked your Kings ears off? We, are not regular Strigoi. We, are royalty, and you've just insulted your sovereign. What should you say?"

"I-I'm sorry,"

"That's better, Dimka?" she beckoned me.

"Yes my Roza?"

"What was it you said you'd to if another man ever looked at me?"

I couldn't mask the rage much longer. I responded with a wicket sneer. "I believe I said, I would kill him in the most brutal way I can think of."

I came behind her and pulled her naked body to me. She moaned in my embrace, "Mmmmm, so, thoughts?"

It only took me a second to come up with a marvelous idea. "I see you're still craving Chocolate, how would marshmallows sound with that?" Her eyes sparkled with delight, then she laughed and grabbed her stomach.

"He's moving again!" Rose took my hand and placed it on her lower belly. I felt the movement beneath her skin and was floored.

"He feels strong, so strong." I wanted to cry each time I felt my sons signs of life within his mother.

"He's perfect, really?!" the swweness os the moment was cut off by Maxim making one daring attempt to save himself and with his knife in hand, he lunged at Rose. While we appeared distracted in our trice, our minds never left the fool unwatched. In mid-run we froze him in place. He stood struggeling against the hold of our power.

"Aa-bom-in-ation…" he spoke against the hold.

"Did you just call my miracle, an abomination?" Rose asked, more than a touch insulted. Her skin grew hot, a strange vibration coursing over it. "You pathetic, smallminded, greedy, opportunistic, manipulative, insignificant…" Her insults kept coming and as they came, the vibration grew stronger. Soon the entire room was trembling, glass, crystal, metal and wood knocked and tinged as they lightly collided.

"Lime green jello, fucking nitwit! What I would give for my child to be old enough and strong enough to kill you himself! I'd sit back, clap my hands and take him to fucking Disney Land! AHH!" The scream that came from my Queen's throat was… beastly. It was her voice but there was a second voice screaming with her. As she screamed Maxing grabbed his head. His eyes went to the back of his head and tears of blood flowed down his cheeks. His veins bulged till they looked as though they were all simultaneously being ripped from his anatomy. Then something amazing happened, he… popped? Like a water balloon. Only this water balloon was filled with blood. Stranger than that, there were no solids left. No bones, no organs, not even teeth. Just red blood that painted the room. It also painted Rose and myself.

We stood there in shock at what just happened. "Rose? What the fuck was that?"

Rose was out of breath when she turned to me, her expression a mix of shock and nervous confusion.

"Uh…Hormones?" she shrugged with an anxious smile. "The baby. Do you think he's ok?" the anxiety changing to full on fear. I held her close to calm her.

"Shhh, he is fine my love. I can hear his heart beating inside you. He's fine." I stroked her blood-soaked hair and the skin of her back, She was still nude aside from the boots and now the blood. I took off my duster and wrapped her in it. "Sit down Roza, we need to talk."

I guided her to a chair and knelt before her. "It looks like we have bigger things to speak on but lets start with you taking off your dress infront of that… puddle."

"I honestly don't know what came over me. I heard him say he saw us together and something in my head, I don't know I snapped. I just needed to put him in his place. Then when he called the baby that, I lost it."

I let out a strained breath. "I couldn't see in your mind when you got upset. I held you, but I couldn't hear you. We haven't been sharing blood as much since the pregnancy, perhaps we need to?"

"Maybe, I've just been get these fluxes of power lately. When I do, things happen that I can't control. I'm so scared I'm gonna do something that'll hurt him."

"No fear my Roza, we are fear, remember?" I grazed her cheek and she nodded.

"Guess we better have someone come clean this up." She said looking around. Then I noticed the blood on her skin was absorbing into her pores. "What?" she asked looking as me.

"The blood, is gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"Mean its no longer on your face, its clean."

Rose pilled her hands free from the too-long sleeves and stared ate her clean fingers stunned. She got off the chare and opened the coat, revealing her body was free from the blood that splattered her skin only an instant ago. "What the fu…" The blood had begun pooling at her feet. It was traveling off the walls, off the table and chairs, off the paintings and fixtures and was settling under her boots. There was a faint bloody haze corrupting my vision. It was the blood on my person, it looked like it was evaporating. Evaporating from me and into Rose. The pool of blood at Rose's feet veined up her boots and traveled in a design. Up her legs, over her belly, her arms, neck, back and face till the pool was gone and a pattern of exterior veins and capillaries covered Rose's body. "What's happening?" She asked panicked.

I shook my head, eyes agape, feeling useless to her. "I don't know." Was all I could say.

The vein-like pattern glowed, then it shined, then it was gone. My Roza's naked body was no longer covered in blood. We looked to each other in disbelief. Of course it was Rose who broke the silence.

"I'm beginning to think its not the hormones."


End file.
